From OV-chipkaart to OVpay: how to move your balance (and claim the remainder back)
July 13, 2026 · 5 min read
The OV-chipkaart disappears at the end of 2027. Many passengers are already moving to OVpay, with the OV-pas or a bank card. But what do you do with the balance still sitting on your old card? Short answer: you cannot transfer it. What you can do is claim it back. This article explains how, in what order, and how long you have to do it.
Can you transfer your balance to the OV-pas?
No. You cannot transfer the balance from your OV-chipkaart to the OV-pas. The two systems are not technically linked: the OV-chipkaart stores your balance on the card itself, while the OV-pas works through an online account. What you can do is claim the balance back through ov-chipkaart.nl, after which it lands in your bank account within 15 days. You then top up new balance on the OV-pas.
Your balance does not follow you by itself. You have to arrange that yourself.
Step 0: stop automatic top-up first
This is the most common mistake people make when switching. Do you have automatic top-up set on your OV-chipkaart? Stop it before you claim your balance back. If you do not, new balance can be added to your card while the refund is already on its way. That costs you extra money and hassle.
Go to ov-chipkaart.nl, log in to your account and turn off automatic top-up. Do this first, before everything below.
How do you claim your balance back?
The route differs slightly per card type.
Personal OV-chipkaart
Go to ov-chipkaart.nl and fill in your details: card number, expiry date, IBAN and email address. The balance is transferred to your account within 15 days. This also works if your card is still valid but you no longer want to travel with it. So you do not have to let the card expire before claiming the balance back.
Anonymous OV-chipkaart
The route is the same: ov-chipkaart.nl, fill in the card number, provide your IBAN. You do not need an account. Check the balance first using the balance checker on ov-chipkaart.nl, so you know what you are getting back before you start the request.
Expired OV-chipkaart
Even if your card has already expired, you can still claim the balance back. Exactly how long you have is covered in the next section.
The situations at a glance:
| Situation | Route | Delivery time |
|---|---|---|
| Card still valid | Cancel through ov-chipkaart.nl | Within 15 days |
| Card expired less than 5 years ago | Claim back through ov-chipkaart.nl | Within 15 days |
| Card expired more than 5 years ago | Right to a refund has lapsed | No longer possible |
How long do you have?
Longer than you think, but not forever. After your OV-chipkaart expires you have five more years to claim the remaining balance back. After that the right lapses and Translink may put the balance to other uses. Do you have a card that expired in 2022? Then you have until 2027 to act.
That sounds like plenty of time, but the OV-chipkaart stops at the end of 2027 anyway. For many passengers those two deadlines therefore fall together. Waiting makes little sense.
There are still tens of millions of euros in balance on expired OV-chipkaarten in the Netherlands. That is passengers' money, not Translink's profit. So do check whether you still have an old card lying in a drawer somewhere.
One more thing: from 1 July 2026 you can no longer buy a new anonymous OV-chipkaart. Do you have one? Use up the balance or claim it back through ov-chipkaart.nl.
What do you do with open delay claims?
Before you cancel your OV-chipkaart, there is one more thing many passengers overlook: outstanding compensation for train delays.
NS applies a claim period of 3 months after the travel date. Once you have cancelled your card, your travel history is no longer automatically accessible. If you only then discover that you were entitled to compensation for a delayed journey six weeks ago, that money is almost certainly gone.
The right order is: link your OV-chipkaart to trein-vertraging.nl first, so your travel history is scanned for outstanding claims. Only then do you cancel the card. That way you make sure you miss nothing.
You can read more about how compensation works in our article on when you get money back for a train delay. And have you ever forgotten to check out? There are still options then too: read how to solve that in our article on forgetting to check out.
After the refund: how do you carry on?
Balance claimed back and card cancelled? Then the next step is choosing how you travel from here.
Do you want a new physical travel card? Then read how to request the OV-pas in our article on the OV-pas. Cost: 6 euro, delivered to your home within 5 working days. Would you rather check in with your bank card or phone? Then there is nothing to request. How the whole switch from OV-chipkaart to OVpay works is covered in our overview article on the transition.
Your rights as a rail passenger do not change with the switch. They are set out in European rail passenger regulations. With a delay of 30 minutes or more you are entitled to compensation, whichever card you use.
Link your OV-chipkaart to trein-vertraging.nl before you cancel the card. We scan your travel history for missed claims going back 90 days, so you leave no compensation behind. After that you arrange the rest of the switch.